The present invention is directed to a vehicle turn signal and/or hazard light display which appears on the windshield of a motor vehicle to provide the driver thereof with a readily observable display, both day and night, under typical driving conditions, as broadly disclosed in Disclosure Document No. 350,602 of Mar. 21, 1994. Whether being utilized as a turn signal indicator or as a hazard indicator, since the display appears on the windshield of the automobile, and since the location is generally in the viewing area of the driver, the driver will at all times be aware of either the hazard lights or the turn signals being on, as operation dictates. This avoids problems attendant to drivers being oblivious to a turn signal which may, obviously, be displayed to a following vehicle. This can be extremely hazardous because, for example, the driver of a following vehicle seeing a "left" turn signal being displayed may, for example, try to pass the vehicle on the right assuming, of course, both vehicles are in the center lane of a divided six lane highway. If the driver of the front vehicle is unaware of the left "blinker" being on, he might simply decide to abruptly change lanes, turn to the right and accidentally collide with the vehicle attempting to pass. Thus, a driver oblivious to a turn signal being "on" is a hazard on the road, and this is reflected by the 1991 Virginia Traffic Crash Facts survey of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles which reported that in 1991 there were 938 persons killed, 70,899 injured and 122,516 crashes, most of which were driver created. Such collisions include improper passing (1,876 incidents), failure to yield (23,799 incidents), inattention (26,018 incidents), improper turns (4,008 incidents), improper lane change (1,994 incidents), lights not on (167 incidents), avoiding other vehicle (4,028 incidents), etc. Though none of these driver-created collisions are reported in the survey as being directly related to the presence or absence of vehicle turn signal displays or hazard light displays, obviously, many accidents are associated therewith. Therefore, the present invention seeks to eliminate accidents involved with the inadvertent display of turn signal lights or hazard display lights by the driver of a vehicle who through inattention or otherwise is simply unaware of such facts and directly or indirectly causes a vehicle collision because of the same.
Typical prior art associated with display devices of the type to which this invention is directed is reflected in U.S. Pat. No. 2,579,806 in the name of Harry Dvorkin granted on Dec. 25, 1951 and entitled Projecting Speed Indicator. Essentially, a take-off shaft from the speedometer shaft rotates a transparent member upon which are symbols identical to the symbols on the speedometer. An electric light bulb projects the symbols upon the windshield of the automobile at which the speed can be viewed by the driver who can act accordingly.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,641,159 granted on Jun. 9, 1953 to Agis Mihalakis, a lens system projects a desired image upon a reflecting screen applied to a windshield surface, such as the speed of the vehicle. Obviously, the driver of the vehicle can view the speed, for example, of the vehicle projected upon the reflecting screen of the windshield and act accordingly.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,273 granted on Jun. 3, 1975 to David Griffiths, a system is provided for projecting a speedometer or other instrument reading as a virtual image upon the windshield of an automobile. The dashboard of the automobile houses a housing in which is supported a reticle consisting of a dial or scale from the speedometer or other instrument gauge. By illuminating the reticle and utilizing an associated optical projection system, the windshield functions as not only the window for the driving environment, but also a projecting screen surface. Basically, lenses of the system prevent aberration so that whatever might be projected can be read upon the windshield by the driver.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,241 granted on Aug. 12, 1975 to Rudolph L. Malobicky, Jr. et al. is directed to a windshield provided with a transparent reflective coating on its inboard surface which forms a visual image receiving area onto which can be projected appropriate information from an associated projector. The specifics of the projector are not disclosed in this patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,780 granted on Apr. 26, 1988 to Steven E. Brown et al. is another example of a so-called head-up display for displaying instrumentation information upon the windshield of a vehicle, such as an automobile, boat or other craft. One suggested format for such a head-up display in this patent is the use of a CRT as the image source, though this is considered impractical and led the inventors to the use of a high output light-emitting diode or array. The latter projects to the windshield dashboard instrument information which is instantaneously and readily available to the driver of the automobile.
In Invention Registration No. H1109 published on Oct. 6, 1992 in the name of John K. Roberts et al. information, including turn signal information, is projected as a "heads-up" display upon the windshield of a vehicle at which it is readily observable by the operator/driver. An indicator needle is rotatably mounted with respect to an analog display and the latter is lit in such a fashion that the information is directed upon a sheet applied to the windshield upon which it is viewable by the driver/operator.
The foregoing patents are reflective of the status of related art and particularly the complexity and expense of the various devices, not to mention the difficulty of the installation thereof.